If you are interested in making a positive impact on the lives of Virginia’s youth, then we want you to become part of our Team! Rural Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility located in Jarratt, Virginia seeks positive role models to work directly with adolescent boys and girls in a psychiatric residential treatment program. The Youth Service Worker is responsible for role-modeling healthy behavior, teaching life skills, administering a trauma informed behavioral support program, and leading youth in and participating in social, cultural, and recreational activities. This position supervises youth in the residential unit and on off-campus activities and appointments.

Must possess the availability to work weekends, evenings, holidays, and nights. Supreme flexibility required. Seeking candidates with Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology, Sociology or other Human Services field. Experience will be considered in lieu of a degree.

Melvin L. Davis Oil Company, Inc. is currently searching for Management Team Members. We have openings from crew leaders all the way up to GM’s at various locations. Our team has been the key to our success and growth so far and we’re looking for more people with the right skills and personality to join us.

Our Company:

The Davis family opened a small restaurant in rural Sussex County, Virginia in 1956. The entrepreneurial spirit continues today as the third generation has established two modern travel centers in Virginia, including one near the site of the original 15-employee restaurant. Today the company has expanded to more than 250 employees and serves professional drivers and traveling motorists along I-85 and I-95 in Virginia. In addition to the large, clean travel centers with food options in Stony Creek and Warfield, we also operate an Exxon service station and convenience store in Prince George, a Mobil service station and convenience store in Stony Creek, a Popeye’s, a Wendy’s and a Denny’s. Our team has been the key to our success and growth so far and we’re looking for more people with the right skills and personality to join us. Customer service is the foundation of our company, and it’s the job of every team member regardless of title. Be a part of a talented team where you will be challenged each and every day. We are a quickly growing company, and promote from within whenever possible. Your opportunity for growth inside of our company is exciting.

Job Requirements:

•Minimum 1-3 years of leadership experience in the retail, grocery or other service industry with responsibility for financial results.

Russell Ashby Lundy, Sr., 82, of Emporia, passed away peacefully on February 12, 2018. He was predeceased by his parents, William and Lelia Lundy; three brothers, Turner Lundy (Louise), R.J. Lundy, and Moses Lundy; six sisters, Irene Brown (Vernon), Fannie Bowen (Frank), Kathryn Sadler (Younger), Cora Britton (Russell), Ellen Buckner (Ben), and infant Mable Lundy. He is survived by his wife of sixty years, Betty Bradley Lundy of the home, sons Russell A. Lundy, II, and his wife Bria, of Houston, Texas; and W. David Lundy of Emporia, and sister-in-law’s, Shirley (Moses) and Trude (RJ). He leaves behind four grandchildren to cherish his memory: R. Ashby Lundy, III, and his wife, Polly, of South Hill; Cameron Clarke Lundy and his wife, Sarah, of Raleigh; Hunter Mitchell Lundy of South Hill, and Sadler Hastings Lundy of Emporia. To be sure, he will be missed by a host of extended family, friends, and former co-workers.

Russell began his retail career with Peebles Department Stores in Greer, South Carolina in 1954. After management positions in Kenbridge and South Hill, Virginia, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and finally, Woodbridge, Virginia, he returned to the Peebles Corporate Office in South Hill, Virginia. He retired in 2003 as Senior Vice President of Stores.

He was a loyal member, Sunday School teacher, and former Deacon of Main Street Baptist Church in Emporia, an active Ruritan, and volunteer administrator of the Samaritan Helping Hands Ministry where he remained involved until his passing. He had a love for music and enjoyed playing the bass guitar with friends. Luncheon and Visitation will be from noon until 1:30 pm on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at Main Street Baptist Church in Emporia with Celebration of Life beginning at 1:30 pm. Graveside service will immediately follow at Greensville Memorial Cemetery, Emporia.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that memorials be made to Main Street Baptist Church Youth Ministry. Condolences may be sent directly to the family home. Echols Funeral Home, Emporia, is in charge of the funeral arrangements.

RICHMOND -- Richmond restaurant, fast food and movie theater customers will pay an extra 1.5 percent with their food starting in July, following the City Council's decision to raise the meals tax to help fund school construction and improvement.

Over the course of a five-hour meeting, the council voted 7-2 Monday to approve increasing the local meals tax from 6 percent to 7.5 percent. Combined with the sales tax, this will bring the total tax on a restaurant check to 12.8 percent.

Tessa McKenzie, one of the citizens who supported the increase, called its passage "one step in a larger solution towards a more equitable system" for Richmond's public schools.

“This seems like a great, low-hanging fruit to really galvanize excellent movement for our students,” said McKenzie, who works for Bridging Richmond, a group that advocates for improvements in education and workforce development.

Councilman Parker Agelasto, 5th District, voted for the tax increase but expressed concerns. He promised greater scrutiny of financial issues as the council drafts the next city budget.

“Million-and-a-half subsidies for Main Street Station? Gone!” Agelasto said. “The Redskins training camp? They want to renegotiate and renew this by July 1? Well, you know what, Redskins? Go!”

The action capped a contentious evening, one set in place after Mayor Levar Stoney rallied his City Council allies to push for the vote last week. Stoney has said that the increase will raise $9 million a year, eventually allowing the city to borrow $150 million for the construction and improvement of Richmond's public schools over the next five years.

While council deliberation over the vote was long and passionate, the loudest voices came from Richmond residents who spoke. Comments supporting and opposing the tax increase extended well past the 30-minute limit allowed for both. They represented a diverse mix of citizens, including parents, movie theater owners, restaurant managers, teachers and students. The latter two made up a significant part of the comments urging passage of the tax increase.

Thomas Jefferson High School student Alexis Gresham said that the higher tax would help her younger sister’s school environment without straining the family’s budget.

Opponents of the tax increase offered several reasons, including a lack of trust in the council and School Board. Some said the tax hike represented "economic discrimination" against restaurants and movie theaters. A few even felt the increase didn't go far enough and would only succeed in keeping the public schools "afloat" in their current state.

“I’m for the schools,” said Jason Thrasher, owner and operator of The Local Eatery and Pub. “If this doesn’t go into effect until July 1st, why can’t you take another 30 days to sit down, plan it out, map it out and give the city and its citizens and taxpayers a way to see that you’re actually going to use the money for its purpose?”

Councilwoman Kristen Larson, 4th District, objected to what she saw as a lack of transparency and accountability expected of a body that served "as a check and balance to the mayor."

"If we don't honor the duty given to us by the voters and the Virginia Constitution, we have no purpose in this process," Larson said.

Earlier in the meeting, Larson called for a delay to the vote; her request was rejected 8-1. A second attempted delay was made by Agelasto and was rejected 5-4.

Several opponents of the tax increase cited legislation approved earlier Monday by the Virginia Senate as part of their objections.

Senate Bill 750 would require Stoney to present to the council by Jan. 1, 2019, a plan “to modernize the city's K-12 educational infrastructure consistent with national standards” without raising taxes -- or else the mayor must “inform city council such a plan is not feasible.”

The bill was introduced by Republican Sen. Glen Sturtevant, a former member of the Richmond School Board. It passed the Senate 40-0 and now goes to the House of Delegates for consideration.

RICHMOND -- Virginia distillers ​may soon be toasting the General Assembly after the Senate passed a bill to let ​liquor manufacturers keep more of the money from selling their spirits in tasting rooms.

Currently, distilleries must sell their bottles to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, then buy them back at full retail price before pouring samples inside their tasting rooms. The markup averages 69 percent and can be as high as 93 percent, according to ABC.

But distilleries could keep the price markup under Senate Bill 803, introduced by Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Fredericksburg. The Senate voted 23-16 in favor of the measure Friday. It is now before the House Appropriations Committee.

ABC currently takes about 55 percent of the gross revenues that distilleries make in their tasting rooms, said Scott Harris of Catoctin Creek Distilling Company in the Loudoun County town of Purcellville. After overhead and worker pay, he said, most Virginia distilleries lose money on such operations.

Distilleries are a growing enterprise in Virginia, which considers itself the birthplace of American spirits. After serving two terms as president, George Washington returned to Mount Vernon to brew his own whiskey.

The industry does more than $160 million a year in business in terms of creating jobs, buying agricultural products and selling spirits, according to the Virginia Distillers Association.

Still, that’s just a drop in the bucket compared with neighboring Kentucky. Distilleries there have an annual economic impact of $8.5 billion, the Kentucky Distillers Association says.

Kentucky is one of the country’s largest producers of distilled spirits and, unlike Virginia, the industry is not controlled by the state government. Harris said Virginia distilleries are hampered by a “punitive landscape.”

Curtis Coleburn, a lobbyist for the Virginia Distillers Association, said SB 803 could spur major growth in the commonwealth’s spirits industry.

“When the distilleries make a sale, half of the money goes to the state through taxes and profits because it’s managed through ABC,” Coleburn said. “Senate Bill 803 would allow the distillers to keep more of the proceeds for sales at the distillery stores and will enable them to hire more Virginians and expand their plans and grow the industry.”

Virginia distillers say they would like to make and sell their products on their premises at the cost of production. This would allow them to have profitable tasting rooms and generate tourism, said Amy Ciarametaro, executive director for the Virginia Distillers Association.

“We have to educate our legislators that, in order for the distilled spirits industry to really be a powerful economic generator for the commonwealth -- and it can be -- we’ve got to make these distillery stores profit generators for their operators,” Ciarametaro said.

Belle Isle Moonshine in Richmond does not have a store on premise, but co-founder and CEO Vince Riggi said reducing the regulations on tasting room sales would benefit all distillers in the commonwealth.

“We want to market Virginia spirits,” Riggi said. “We want to elevate the brand and showcase it to the consumers in the state.”

RICHMOND – Dr. Grace E. Harris, the highest-ranking African-American and highest-ranking woman in the history of Virginia Commonwealth University, died Monday at age 84, leaving a legacy that stretches throughout and beyond the state of Virginia.

In an email to the VCU community, university President Michael Rao called Harris “a giant in legacy and in character, a woman whose contributions to VCU and to the countless lives we touch are truly immeasurable.”

“She was one of the wisest, kindest, and most generous people I have ever met,” Rao wrote.

Harris was born Grace Victoria Edmondson on July 1, 1933, in Halifax County to a family of preachers and educators in segregation-era Virginia. Harris had five siblings. One sister, Mamye BaCote, went on to become a member of the Virginia House of Delegates; another, the late Sue E. Wilder, was a NASA data analyst referenced in the movie “Hidden Figures.”

Graduating as class valedictorian from Halifax Training School in 1950, Harris attended several institutions of higher education, including Grinnell College in Iowa as an exchange student. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and graduated with highest honors from Hampton University, then named Hampton Institute.

When Harris was a graduate student in 1954, Virginia Commonwealth University – then known as Richmond Professional Institute – refused to admit her because of her race. Undeterred, Harris spent two years at Boston University, alongside classmates such as Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1960, she returned to the newly named VCU to complete a master’s degree in social work. She served as an assistant professor in VCU’s School of Social Work from 1967 to 1976. For the next 30 years, Harris was a rising presence in the school’s ranks, becoming a dean in 1982, provost in 1993 and acting president in 1995.

Along the way, Harris earned accolades and awards. In 1999, the VCU Board of Visitors established the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute in her honor. In 2007, VCU renamed the former School of Business building as Grace E. Harris Hall.

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a longtime friend, celebrated Harris’ achievements, saying in a statement that her “connection to the needs of the community and its citizens had a dramatic impact on the identity of VCU and the way it engaged people.”

Though she retired from VCU in 2016, Harris’ social work never stopped. She assisted nonprofit organizations across the commonwealth, including serving on the advisory board of the Virginia Health Care Foundation. Deborah Oswalt, executive director of that group, described her as “small in physique, but she was a giant in all other respects.”

“Grace helped the Virginia Health Care Foundation flourish during a time of transition and fiscal uncertainty,” Oswalt said. “She brought a thoughtful, intelligent, kind approach to everything she did and to all with whom she engaged.”

Harris was vice chair for Mark Warner’s transition team after he was elected governor in 2001. The following year, Warner appointed her to the Virginia Commission on Higher Education.

In a statement, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia praised the “keen insight into university administration” Harris provided when he appointed members of Virginia’s public college boards during his governance.

“Dr. Harris used her lifetime of groundbreaking service to help cultivate and elevate emerging leaders,” Kaine said.

She is survived by her husband, James W. “Dick” Harris; her two adult children, Gayle and James; and her grandson, Jullian, who earned a master’s degree in sociology from VCU in 2016.

RICHMOND – An additional fuel tax of 2.1 percent would be levied in western Virginia under a Senate bill approvedTuesday creating a regional transportation fund to help pay for improvements on busy Interstate 81.

The legislation sponsored by Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, passed the Senate 24-16. It would create the Western Virginia Transportation Fund to improve conditions on the state’s longest interstate, stretching from Bristol to Winchester – mostly two lanes in each direction.

The road is packed with long-haul truckers, many more than the capacity for which the highway was designed.

The Senate also passed a bill proposed by Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, directing the Commonwealth Transportation Board to develop a plan for improving I-81 corridor improvements, possibly using tolls.

Obenshain joined 15 other Republicans in voting against Hanger’s SB 583, which would impose the extra tax in 32 counties and 13 cities.

“While Sen. Hanger and I agree that we need to do something to improve Interstate 81 and to make it safer, we disagree about how to do it. I do not agree that we should impose a higher gas tax on residents along the 81 corridor to pay for it,” Obenshain said earlier this session.

“I have been working on a bipartisan plan with the administration to develop a plan that would focus on tolling long distance interstate traffic, including heavy trucks without burdening those who depend on the Interstate for travel to and from work,” Obenshain said.

Obenshain’s bill, SB 971, passed unanimously. Both bills now move to the House of Delegates.

Under Hanger’s bill, the staff of the Blacksburg-Christianburg-Montgomery Area and Roanoke Valley planning organizations, along with Virginia Department of Transportation, would organize the Western Virginia Transportation Commission.

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Regular meetings are held at the

Greensville County Historic Museum,

419 S. Main Street,

at 7pm on the First Wednesday of each month.

Geneology Club on the Second Thursday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Donations and artifacts gladly accepted.

Please call (434)634-1219 for more information.

Exciting Opportunities at the Virginia Cooperative Extension (Click to Enlarge)!

Click for Printable Entry Form

Greensville County Business, Professional and Occupational licenses for 2018 are now due. To avoid penalties, please secure your 2018 license from the Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office on or before March 1. Where located in the Greensville County Government Building at 1781 Greensville County Circle, Room 132 on U.S. Highway 301 North – Sussex Drive. Our office hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Pawnbrokers

ROAKOKE VALLEY YOUTH SOCCER

The deadline for the RVYSA Spring Recreation League has been extended until Feburary 28th. Go to www.rvysa.org to register. Anticipate season opener on March 11th.

The RVYSA Select '14U Fury' travel team is looking for a few interested players. Boys and girls interested should contact: Coach: Bob at 252-586-5341 or Coach Adam at 252-326-1550. The Fury was undefeated this past fall and anticipates another fun and com☺petitive spring.

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ATTENTION TAXPAYERS

City of Emporia

2018 Business Personal Property Returns and 2018 Business and Professional Occupational Licenses (BPOL) are due to be filed with the Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue, 201 South Main Street no later than Thursday, March 1st to avoid penalty and interest. The mailing address is Commissioner of the Revenue, P.O. Box 956, Emporia, VA 23847. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call 434-634-5405.

Joyce E. Prince

Commissioner of the Revenue

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2/21 Main Street Baptist Church—Rev. Terry Woodard preaching
2/28 First Presbyterian Church –Rev. Dr. Ricky Hurst preaching
3/7 Main St. United Methodist Church—Rev. Rachel Plemmons preaching
3/14 Calvary Baptist Church—Rev. Brad Barbour preaching
3/21 St John Lutheran Church– Rev. Steve Bocklage preaching
3/28 Victory Fellowship Church— Rev. Andy Cain preaching
A love offering will be taken up at each service to fund a scholarship for a graduating senior and Samaritan
Helping Hands. Lunch is served after the service with a suggested donation of $5 per plate.

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